Friday, October 7, 2011

"At the end of the day, what are we but the sum of the people who'd mourn their loss if we were gone?"

I still remember writing this almost a year ago, and I've never quite been as forcibly reminded of it as much as today, when we all woke up to the news that Steve Jobs had passed on.

By this time of the day, everyone has said what they needed to say about Steve, but I just feel compelled to... I dunno, say something, somehow.

I've always been lusting after Apple products ever since I first laid eyes on the bondi blue iMac, and the only thing stopping me was, well, the lack of dollar bills which still stop me from getting a Mac today. And I'd always been fascinated with how Steve, with his personal backstory worthy of a summer blockbuster, managed to turn an electronics-manufacturing company into a cult with a global following.

One of the things about Steve Jobs that remember reading about the most was his approach to design - his need for a product he was creating to be simple, intuitive, and just work. And that inspired me to try to think that way about my work as well whenever possible - not that I'm designing anything earth-shattering lah - but for things to make sense, and fit together to tell a story.

It's strange to feel sad about the passing of someone you've never even met before, but it's not so strange anymore when you see all the tweets, Facebook updates and zillions of articles online paying tribute to Steve. My personal favourites were this Wired article on Steve's life story and how he came to be, and Brian Lam of Gizmodo's account of hard choices and regrets over the iPhone 4 leak a year ago.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

This tune was looping endlessly on my iPod not too long ago, and I can't believe that in less than a week I'll be able to say, "Well hello there Taio Cruz. Fancy seeing you around this part of the globe ;)"

Yes yes yes Arthur's Day is back! A pint (or three) of Guinness + a night of club hits from Taio Cruz is totally FTW, and I wouldn't miss it for anything :D For you Amish people who haven't heard, Arthur's Day 2011 is happening on:

Apart from being massively excited about Taio Cruz performing that night, I think it's pretty cool too that you get to choose 2 of your favourite local acts to open at Arthur's Day at the Guinness Malaysia FB page here. Personally, I'd love for Rosevelt and James Baum to be opening, but well... I'm just biased like that :P Looks like Dragon Red and Prema Yin are in the lead at the moment!

If you haven't got your Arthur's Day passes yet (why???), check out this link to see how you can get yourself a pair! See you there! :D

Friday, July 29, 2011

In life, there are certain traits and abilities which have always labeled as the "good" ones - positivity, determination, being outgoing, being a natural leader, the ability to cook, things like that. And anything which is the opposite of those traits and abilities, will naturally be labeled as the "bad" ones.

So that's what we've always been fed ever since we were kids, and it's still the same now. That's what all the self-help books, motivational courses and inspiring articles on the Internet are supposed to do - to help you become a better person.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just that a lot of the time, the whole notion of being a better person involves trying to develop an ability out of thin air, or changing the "negative traits" that you were born with, like it's a wine stain on a white carpet that needs to be removed. And I think there's no greater fallacy than this.

I've always believed in the concept of yin and yang, that everything on earth is better with a counter-point to it, and the notion that we should all try to conform to the ideal of a "better person" just doesn't make sense to me. Would we all not be Barbie-esque drones then; like Sims in a utopian world? Every dreamer needs an anchor, to keep him from getting lost in the clouds. Every overachiever needs a slacker, to remind him to slow down sometimes. Every leader needs a follower, to support him along the path he has charted.

We spend so much time being apologetic over quirks and flaws that we were born with, and trying to live up to everybody's expectations that we end up being miserable ourselves. Not everybody is born to be a star, and I think that we should be okay with that. It's only then that we can recognise when we're in the presence of greatness, and appreciate it so.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to aspire to be something more, or to work on something that we don't like about ourselves. But for me at least, the self-flagellation has to stop because I've finally grown tired of feeling inadequate my whole life. The self-improvement battles will come another day, and just for this moment, I'll tell myself, "You're doing okay, kiddo." And I think we all need that sometimes.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

'Tis the season of summer blockbusters, and you know it just wouldn't be complete without Michael Bay blowing something up. So yeah, whuddup Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon!

With movies like this, there's always the question of whose side you're on, and most times I end up siding with the good guys because uh... I'm easily manipulated by Hollywood like that :P But seriously though, if I had to pick, I would definitely wanna be part of the Autobots as Bumblebee.

Well yes, Optimus Prime is all patriotically coloured red and blue, is intimidatingly enormous and comes with an uber manly voice, it just wouldn't be the Transformers without Bumblebee. Bee's the one with all the heart - he's so fiercely loyal to Sam and his comrades, doesn't let his relatively diminutive stature nor the lack of a voice box faze him in the least, and you know he gets all the ladies because he's such a charmer :)

In fact, that could be my/Bumblebee's strategy in the war against the Decepticons - being cute. Yes lah. I'll just sit there as a little Camaro, cute as a button and make the baddies go "awwww".... and then I strike. Something like this. Okay fine, maybe it's not the best plan in the world, but that's what scriptwriters are for kan. Not sure how true it is but I hear Bee is the main character in this installment, so all the more reason I'm excited to see how the real Bee pulls it off :D

Oh I almost forgot one more reason I would be the best Bumblebee ever - I already have one! :D

Heehee. I sometimes wish my BB had the power to transform into a mini-Bee if I was ever threatened, and save me the trouble of having to buy pepper spray, but that might be a tad too much to ask from the universe. Oh well.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Yeah that would be the bimbo in me abandoning all pretense of being a sensible, money-conserving adult. I've always been notorious for being the shopaholic regardless of which group of friends I'm with at the time, and my bank account deficit balefully reminds me that it's been getting worse lately.

I have a theory though, for all this incessant shopping of mine; I have a sneaky feeling that it's the high of seeing something you KNOW would be perfect for yourself than the actual purchase which keeps me going. I don't know quite how to put it, but I'm sure fellow shopaholics would totally understand :P It's like you've found the dress/top/skirt/whatever that completes you and it makes your heart go 'floop!'

Which is the same feeling I get when traveling to new places and seeing new things, except with a thousand times more 'floops'. I crave it so, so much. I miss the excitement of planning a trip and looking forward to the date when I'd be leaving on a jetplane. And I don't get to travel much... so I settle for the little 'floops' of shopping instead :/ Flawed logic, I know, because it's the very thing that depletes my Tabung UK I mean, Tabung Travel-anywhere-cool really fast but please be reminded again of my bimbobrain.

So that's how I ended up spontaneously deciding to go on a weekend trip alone to Singapore last weekend to meet up with a couple of college friends. I needed the rush to keep me sane, really. I dunno if it worked though, because though I was in a 'Singapore mode' (as my exotic fiancee put it) all day yesterday, I find myself wondering when my next surprise trip will be again. sigh.